North Somerset MP Sir Liam Fox has attacked plans by North Somerset District Council to impose parking charges in Nailsea, Clevedon, and Portishead.
Speaking about the changes, Liam said: “Small businesses are still reeling from the impact of the pandemic, the inflationary surge following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the changing consumer behaviour to increasingly buy online. All of these have created a situation when many small businesses are only just keeping their heads above water. Introducing parking charges could effectively be a death threat to some of these businesses if they stop local customers from shopping in our town centres.
"It seems that the council wants to treat all our smaller towns as though they are Weston-super-Mare, but they do not have the income that is generated from parking charges on tourists as WSM does. It would simply drive businesses out of places such as Nailsea, which is likely to be hardest hit of all.
"The so-called consultation on the issue has caused widespread concern because of its complexity, with most people believing that it is not a real consultation at all, but a prelude to a preconceived outcome. You would have thought that the experience of Clevedon seafront would have taught them where this led!”
